New year, new mayor in New York City. Mere minutes after midnight (Jan. 1), Eric Adams was sworn in as the 110th mayor of NYC, becoming just the second Black man to hold the position.
via: Daily News
Adams, whose campaign mantra was “stay focused, no distractions and grind,” is the second Black mayor in Big Apple history. Holding up a framed photo of his late mother, Adams recited the oath of office on the main riser in Times Square before thousands of New Year’s Eve revelers immediately after the ball dropped to ring in 2022.
“New York is back,” Adams said as he walked off stage.
Before his swearing-in, the New York native waxed poetic about the “unbelievable” perseverance his city has shown in the face of COVID-19.
“It’s just great when New York shows the entire country how we come back,” said Adams. “It may be COVID, but the reality is the resiliency of our city and our country — we showed the entire globe what we’re made of. We’re unbelievable. This is an unbelievable city.”
Foregoing the traditional City Hall inauguration, Adams was initially supposed to be sworn in at an indoor Jan. 1 ceremony at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. But he relocated to the outdoors Times Square bash over coronavirus concerns as the omicron variant continues to ravage New York and the country.
Unlike outgoing Mayor de Blasio’s swearing-in ceremony on the steps of City Hall in 2014 — an event which featured speakers snubbing his predecessor Mayor Michael Bloomberg — the Times Square bash had a more upbeat, less combative air to it.
Adams’ family and de Blasio joined him for the unconventional Times Square swearing-in — as well as roughly 15,000 revelers there for the quintessential ball drop, giving the new mayor a massive crowd to bask in.
But the celebration was dulled by the still-raging pandemic, which Adams will inherit as mayor.
Revelers were required to provide proof they were fully vaccinated, wear face masks and maintain social distancing at all times during the New Year’s Eve bash.
Two headliners for the event — LL Cool J and Chlöe — canceled their performances, with the famous Queens rapper confirming he bowed out after testing positive for COVID-19. And, while the show went on at the Crossroads of the World, other celebrations in other parts of the globe like Toyko, Rome and Paris were canceled because of the highly contagious omicron variant.
The Times Square party was nearly canceled as well. Adams touted the fact that it wasn’t as a harbinger of hope.
“Even in the midst of COVID, in the midst of everything we’re going through, this is a country where hope and opportunity is always ever present,” he said in his pre-ball drop remarks.
His swearing-in over and done with, Adams has his work as mayor cut out for him.
He's got the keys to Times Square! Congrats, @ericadamsfornyc! #RockinEve pic.twitter.com/EE4rRQqLXp
— New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (@RockinEve) January 1, 2022
